United to give Mourinho RM1.08b kitty

MANCHESTER UNITED will grant Jose Mourinho a £200m transfer kitty to close the gap on Manchester City next season, according to reports.

The Red Devils desperate to catch up with their local rivals next year.

City are steamrolling to a Premier League title, sitting 16 points ahead of United. A win at Old Trafford next week for Pep Guardiola’s men will confirm the crown. And Mourinho has demanded that he given ample funds to close the gap.

The Portuguese manager has had a number of problems this season but signed a contract extension in January granting him an extra lease of power.

And the Sun are reporting that vice-chairman Ed Woodward is fully on board with his coach.

A number of stars have been targeted as the club plan on a huge summer spending spree.

It is believed that the defence is the key area the former Chelsea manager wants to strengthen.

Mourinho’s targets include Napoli’s Jorginho, Juventus’ Alex Sandro, Spurs duo Danny Rose and Toby Alderweireld, Celtic’s Kieran Tierney and Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin.

Having signed Alexis Sanchez in January, a forward will not be signed unless absolutely necessary.

He said: “We have Lukaku and Marcus Rashford as No. 9’s, and of course Marcus can player right and left, but Marcus is a striker.

“Alexis can player as a striker, Martial can play as a striker, so without having another Lukaku, we have three more players that can play as a nine. – Daily Star a re have wi s h e d , Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne could have been teammates rather than on a collision course for tomorrow’s Champions League quarterfinal clash between Liverpool and Manchester City. How Chelsea fans must wish they had remained on the same side. Instead, neither player’s

style suited Jose Mourinho’s physical approach and were sent through Stamford Bridge’s revolving door for talented midfield players at the time having made just a combined 16 league appearances.

Both sales have come back to haunt Chelsea, who now look set to miss out on a place in the Champions League next season whilst De Bruyne orchestrates City’s relentless march towards